Pushing Rope

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Greg Dulli Live At the Triple Door

Last.fm has the entire Greg Dulli live album "Live at the Triple Door." The tracks are from two benefit acoustic shows in Seattle. Dulli performs with Petra Haden, Jeff Klein, Barb Antonio and Shawn Smith. Dulli made his career playing in the famously loud Afghan Whigs. No one would ever mistake Dulli for a folk singer.

Haden and Smith are naturally gifted singers. The Triple Door shows forced Dulli to be a more disciplined and rid his voice of his punk rock tendencies. The results are the best vocal performances of Dulli's career. Dulli still strains to hit the high notes in The Killer. The difference is Dulli isn't screaming the chorus with Springsteen-level bombast.

As with any Dulli live show, the covers are the highlights. Dulli reinvents José González's Down the Line. Dulli's version builds on the tension of percussive guitar strumming, pianos and violins to capture the lyrics message of "don't let the darkness eat you up." Nina Simone's Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair is the closest Dulli will ever come to being a jazz man. The arrangement and playing are ace. The bonus is Dulli are hits the high notes. The Faces R&B tinged Tell Everyone becomes a country song.

The quiet call and response vocals between Dulli, Haden and Klein on Candy Cane Crawl and Bonnie Brae are a treat. A Led Zeppelin reference is thrown in at the end of King Only.

“I was originally asked to perform alone but that prospect was terrifying to me, so I asked Petra to come along,” commented Dulli. “Then I thought ‘Jeff’s done this a million times, I’ll bring him too.’ I hadn’t played with Shawn or Barb in ten years and they lived in Seattle, so I called them and what started as a potentially scary situation turned into a beautiful band without all the clanging and banging. And I could actually hear myself onstage for once and sang (mostly) in key.”

Channeling Travis Bickle

"At what point do the people tell the politicians to go to hell? At what point do they get off the couch, march down to their state legislator’s house, pull him outside, and beat him to a bloody pulp for being an idiot?

"At some point soon, it will happen. It’ll be over an innocuous issue. But the rage is building. It’s not a partisan issue. There is bipartisan angst at out of control government made worse by dumb bans like this and unintended consequences like AIG’s bonus problems."

Erick Erickson, saying there will soon be a violent revolution in America.

Bonus quote from Erickson:

Were I in Washington State, I’d be cleaning my gun right about now waiting to protect my property from the coming riots or the government aparatchicks coming to enforce nonsensical legislation.

The cause of Erickson's rage is Spokane County, Washington has banned phosphates from dishwasher detergent. Erickson claims "Washington State has turned its residents into a group of drug runners — crossing state lines to buy dish washer detergent with phosphate." Apparently, Washington residents need to get on a 12 step program to cure their collective dishwasher detergent fix. The more likely answer is people aren't going to riot over dishwasher detergent.

The body needs a certain amount of phosphate. However, overexposure can cause kidney failure, bone diseases and other complications. Most people would agree safe dishwasher detergent is a good thing. Erickson is willing to shoot someone to put potentially unsafe detergent back on the market. Erickson sounds more like Travis Bickle than a grassroots political operative. Erickson's rant is insane and should be treated as such.

"Listen, you fuckers, you screwheads. Here is a man who would not take it anymore. A man who stood up against the scum, the cunts, the dogs, the filth, the shit. Here is a man who stood up."

Travis Bickle, from the movie Taxi Driver. The Bickle quote doesn't strike me as different in tone from the Erickson post.

Write A Caption

Make the Twitter Madness Stop!

News that will make Jim Johnson happy: The Hill has announced "The Hill's Twitter Room." It is a blog dedicated to posting Tweets of politicians and bloggers. What a fucking assinine use of journalistic resources. The person The Hill is paying to read and post Tweets could be doing actual journalism. If I want to know what Michelle Malkin is tweeting (which I don't) I would subscribe to Twitter feed.

Congress is making laws and debating appropriation bills. That is more important than this gem from Redstate.com webmaster Erik Erickson.

Ashley Biden and Barack Obama are both coke heads. Big freakin' deal. Time to move on.

Erickson has failed to build the right-wing equivalent of Daily Kos and has become a blogospherepunchline. Time to move on.

How Conservative Blogs Change Facts

Dowdification is a word created by bloggers when a write omits information to support his or her bias.

Used as noun or verb. The willful omission of one or more words so the meaning of the statement is no longer understood but that the statement suits the needs of the writer in launching an ad hominem attack whether or not the construction is truthful or grammatically complete.

Named after Maureen Dowd, based on her manufacture of a quote attributed to President Bush in her May 14, 2003 column (as first reported by Robert Cox on TheNationalDebate.com).

I knew from that loaded sentence Reynolds was going to link to another blogger suggesting Democrats are racist. Sure enough, blogger Jon Henke blockquotes one sentence from a CNN artice.

Those who said race was an important factor voted 55 percent to 44 percent in favor of Obama.

"So, as Mike Turk had predicted last year," writes Henke. "Racism was a more common factor among Democrats than Republicans in the 2008 election."

I doubt Henke has any idea how to read a poll. He certainly is skilled at Dowdification. Henke omits the rest of the paragraph that defeats his thesis. Here is the whole paragraph from the CNN article.

Those who said race was an important factor voted 55 percent to 44 percent in favor of Obama. But Obama also was the winner by a similar margin among those who said race was not important, "which suggests that race was not a decisive factor in this election," Schneider said.

In polling two trends can offset each other. People that wanted a black President polled similarly to voters that preferred Obama and were not influenced by his race. Some pollsters and pundits, at the time, argued that the latters numbers were lower due to the Bradley effect.

The article doesn't go into sample size or question wording. Yet, this lack of information didn't stop Henke from deeming black Democrats racist. The full text of the paragraph states "race was not a decisive factor in this election." How Henke came to the conclusion Democrats are racist is laughable. It is even more pathetic that a tenured law professor would link to this factually inaccurate polling data.

"We threw that away," Sen. Mike Fasano of New Port Richey said at a recent budget hearing. A strong Crist ally, he said later that lawmakers rarely pay much attention to a governor's budget proposal.

Senate budget chairman J.D. Alexander has pleaded for Crist to use the Governor's office as a "bully pulpit." Crist continues to take days off and say he is optimistic about the budget. Crist refuses to leave the confines of his "Shiny Happy People" world.

“I am more optimistic about getting a budget today. I had good conversations with the speaker and the president today. I am more encouraged we might get gaming and some significant additional revenue out of the [Sen. Dennis] Jones bill, maybe as much as $700 to $1 billion. There are glimmers of hope.”

Vote FLA Politics Best State Blog

The Washington Post blog "The Fix" is asking readers to vote for the best state political blog. I am asking PR readers to vote for FLA Politics as best state blog. Need I remind people that FLA Politics is one of the few blogs on the exclusive Daily Kos blogroll.

Place your vote and the FLA Politics web address in the comments of The Fix post. Justin Sayfie is running a campaign for Sayfie Review. I like Justin and he runs a great site. I like to see a Florida progressive blog win this contest.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Good News For Reproductive Rights

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York rejected the Bush administrations policy of allowing Plan B to be only over-the-counter. Judge Edward R. Korman found the FDA went against medical opinion to form policy.

The FDA considered the Citizen Petition in tandem with a number of proposals –referred to as supplemental new drug applications (“SNDA”) – submitted by Women’s Capital Corporation, the drug’s original manufacturer. Women’s Capital Corporation sold its right to market Plan B to Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. during the course of the proceedings described below. I refer to them collectively as the “Plan B sponsor.” The first SNDA, like the Citizen Petition, sought non-prescription access to Plan B for women of all ages. After the FDA denied such access, the Plan B sponsor submitted a second SNDA, seeking non-prescription access for women 16 and older. The FDA rejected that application too despite nearly uniform agreement among FDA scientific review staff that women of all ages could use Plan B without a prescription safely and effectively. The Plan B sponsor then submitted a third SNDA, which proposed making Plan B available without a prescription to women 17 and older. While FDA scientists and senior officials found that 17 year olds could use Plan B safely without a prescription, the FDA Commissioner determined that, because of “enforcement” concerns, Plan B would be available without a prescription only to women 18 and older. Putting aside for the moment the specifics of the many claims brought by plaintiffs and the details of each of the FDA’s decisions, the gravamen of plaintiffs’ claims is that the FDA’s decisions regarding Plan B – on the Citizen Petition and the SNDAs – were arbitrary and capricious because they were not the result of reasoned and good faith agency decision-making.

Plaintiffs are right. The FDA repeatedly and unreasonably delayed issuing a decision on Plan B for suspect reasons and, on two occasions, only took action on Plan B to facilitate confirmation of Acting FDA Commissioners, whose confirmation hearings had been held up due to these repeated delays. The first occasion involved the confirmation of then-Acting FDA Commissioner Lester M. Crawford, who froze the review process for seven months in 2005. In order to overcome a hold that had been placed on his nomination by two Senators, the Secretary of Health and Human Services promised that the FDA would act on Plan B by September 2005. After Dr. Crawford was confirmed by the Senate in July 2005, however, he reneged on the promise and, instead, delayed action another eleven months to pursue, and then abandon, a rulemaking with respect to Plan B. There is also evidence that when the FDA finally decided to approve non-prescription use of Plan B for women 18 and older, it did so to facilitate the confirmation of Commissioner Crawford’s successor, then-Acting FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach, whose confirmation certain Senators had vowed to block because of the continued delays on Plan B.

These political considerations, delays, and implausible justifications for decision-making are not the only evidence of a lack of good faith and reasoned agency decision-making. Indeed, the record is clear that the FDA’s course of conduct regarding Plan B departed in significant ways from the agency’s normal procedures regarding similar applications to switch a drug product from prescription to non-prescription use, referred to as a “switch application” or an “over-the-counter switch.” For example, FDA upper management, including the Commissioner, wrested control over the decision-making on Plan B from staff that normally would issue thefinal decision on an over-the-counter switch application; the FDA’s denial of non-prescription access without age restriction went against the recommendation of a committee of experts it had empanelled to advise it on Plan B; and the Commissioner – at the behest of political actors – decided to deny non-prescription access to women 16 and younger before FDA scientific review staff had completed their reviews.

The one thead that runs through every Bush cabinet department is putting politics over sound policy. The Obama administration is taking the first step to rescend a Department of Health and Human Services policy that would allow health care providers not to perform abortion. Bush used religious freedom as a cover. The Catholic church was successful in having the Nicaraguan government make abortion illegal. The result has been dead women. The sanctity of life apparently doesn't cover pregnant women.

The HHS rule ‘‘Ensuring that Department of Health and Human Services Funds Do Not Support Coercive or Discriminatory Policies or Practices in Violation of Federal Law’’ can cut off funding to any health care facility that forces a doctor or nurse to perform an abortion or sterilization. I have not read one news story of a health care worker forced to perform these medical procedures. I do remember a Hillsborough County jail preventing a rape victim from taking a second doze of Plan B. The victim reported being raped and the Tampa Police Department arrested her for owing $4,585 restitution. At least the jail worker was able to practice her religious freedom.

Palin the New Newt

What is interesting is Democrats are using the faces of George W. Bush, Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh for contributions. This isn't an accident. James Carville was the architect of to elevate Limbaugh and his anti-Obama comments. Carville's next target is Palin.

“Her name conjures up all kinds of reactions in people’s minds,” Carville told me, adding that her association with the campaign will be used to portray the GOP as hidebound and to alienate moderates. “She’s an uncomfortable figure for a lot of Republicans,” Carville says. “They want to move beyond her. We like her.”

“Luckily, she seems to present us with an opportunity every few days,” added a senior Dem strategist. “You could say it’s a turkey shoot.”

When Newt Gingrich left Congress, I remember Clinton officials saying they were going to miss not having him to kick around. Gingrich is popular with the base but was forced out of office by his own party. Gingrich didn't run for President in 2008 because he wouldn't have a chance in hell. Most of America view him as nutty.

I doubt Palin can organize a presidential campaign strong enough to garner the nomination. Bobby Jindal, Mark Sanford and Mitt Romney aren't anymore exciting. The GOP connects with the base at the cost of losing the center.

Charter 1 Rejection: Twentysomethings More Tolerant

Gainesville voters rejected the charter 1 amendment. What was surprising is charter 1 was voted down 58 percent to 42 percent. The amendment only served to strip the civil rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people.

Shall the City Charter Be Amended to prohibit the adoption or enforcement of ordinances, regulations, rules, or policies that provide protected status, preferences, or discrimination claims based on classification, characteristics, or orientations not recognized by the Florida Civil Rights Act? The act recognizes, race, color, creed, religion, gender, national origin, age, handicap, marital and familial status. Additionally, this amendment voids existing ordinances concerning sexual orientation, gender identity, and other ordinances inconsistent with this amendment.

The Associated Press reports a high voter turnout of University of Florida students. UF political science professor Dan Smith credits the turnout to the "Obama experience." Social trend among young people is more tolerant for gay people. My question is who will the GOP have eft to demonize twenty years from now?

Great Bad Karaoke

Youtube user Juliorsc posted his karaoke rendition of Bad Company's Feel Like Making Love. Christian conservatives should use this video to promote abstinence-only sex education. No woman, man, animal or pet rock will "feel like making love" after listening to Juliorsc channel Chris Cornell as a drunk lounge singer. Juliorsc pelvic gyrations to the camera are narcissistic and delusional. This guy thinks his stage presence and voice can get him laid.

In fairness, Juliorsc has a Youtube channel and he is a decent singer when sober. Feel Like Making Love is not a song karaoke singers or most American Idol contestants should attempt.

Rudy's Populist Message

I missed Rudy Giuliani. He was a source an endless comedy material for this blog. Rudy boldly predicted he would win Florida. The Sarasota County Republican Party moved a Giuliani campaign stop from the Sailor Circus Arena because they (rightfully) feared the candidate could be lampooned."

My two favorite Rudy moments.

Rudy lapping his campaign bus on the Daytona International Speedway. Look closely and you can see Rudy in the bus waving.

Nothing screams presidential then Rudy's infamous Christmas ads. Rudy woos voters by promising Christmas gifts of fruitcakes and strict-constructionist judges. Every family child wants his or her very own Antonin Scalia.

Rudy returns to the political landscape with a message that will lead the GOP out of the political wilderness. Rudy's crafts a message is that will resonate with voters during these difficult economic times. Rudy's message is tax dollars for CEO bonuses is good for the economy.

"If you somehow take that bonus out of the economy, it really will create unemployment," he said on CNN's "American Morning." "It means less spending in restaurants, less spending in department stores, so everything has an impact."

The Road To Recovery

Instead of the NRA eagle for the back of the North American Union's Amero coins, Michelle Bachmann is considering going with the eagle from the front cover of the GOP's 12 Step Plan for the Road to Recovery. Mel "Sugar Tits" Gibson must be going nuts because the 13 stars above the head of the eagle form the Star of David instead of a cross. Maybe Mel thinks this means that the Secret Jewish Bankers That Control Everything are covertly suggesting that the original 13 colonies formed a Jewish Nation, and not a Christian Nation.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Hello Re/Creating Tampa

Congratulations to David Davisson for getting mentioned in Creative Loafing's Urban Explorer 4.0. (We here at PR a huge Creative Loafing fans.) Davisson mixes national progressive politics and news about Tampa. Davisson has made his blog the progressive answer to Sticks of Fire. Go check out Re/Creating Tampa.

John Boehner Still Not Ready For Primetime

House Minority Leader John Boehner has been on the attack against President Barack Obama's stimulus package. Boehner offer Republicans own alternative budget; which is a 35 to 25 percent for anyone making over $100,000. Those under that tax bracket would pay 10 percent.

"Two nights ago, the president said, 'We haven't seen a budget yet out of Republicans.' Well, it's just not true, because here it is, Mr. President," said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), waving a blue document in the air.

"Today we're introducing a detailed road-to-recovery plan," he told the reporters. Other than the tax proposal, however, the plan was absent any details. Instead, it hammered the Democratic budget as too expensive.

Boehner then demonstrated why he is a horrible party leader. He couldn't handle the heat in the kitchen. Reporters noticed they were given nothing more than a piece of paper. They wanted to see the actual House GOP budget.

"Are you going to have any further details on this today?" the first asked.

"On what?" asked Boehner.

"There's no detail in here," noted the reporter.

Answered Boehner: "This is a blueprint for where we're going. Are you asking about some other document?"

A second reporter followed up: "What about some numbers? What about the out-year deficit? What about balancing the budget? How are you going to do it?"

"We'll have the alternative budget details next week," promised Boehner. Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) had wisely departed the room after offering his opening remarks. ("Today's Republican road-to-recovery is the latest in a series of GOP initiatives, solutions and plans," he had offered.)

Boehner held a press conference to introduce an alternative budget. Boehner actually thought no Beltway reporter was going to ask to see a budget. Hilarity ensues when the media ask Boehner about the GOP's plan to reduce the deficit.

A third reporter asked Boehner about the Republican goal for deficit reduction, noting President Obama aimed to cut it in half in five years. "What's your goal?"

"To do better," said Boehner.

"How? How much?"

"You'll see next week."

"Wait. Why not today? Because he asked you to present a budget."

The best moment is when a journalist informed Boehner of his criticism of the speed the Democrats put together the stimulus package.

Another reporter reminded Boehner that he has "criticized Democrats for throwing together a stimulus quickly and nobody knew what they were voting on. Are you saying that your budget will be unveiled on the same day that the House is expected to vote on it?"

"No, I expect it'll be out next week," he said, though the House is expected to vote on the budget next week. "But understand that a budget really is a one-page document. It's just a bunch of numbers."

Boehner is the best thing to ever happen to Nancy Pelosi.

Update: MSNBC's Contessa Brewer notes the GOP budget lacks details. White House Press Sec. Robert Gibbs notes there is one picture of a windmill but no numbers.

Update: The House GOP budget proposal ""The Republican Road to Recovery" is online. There is no economic policy meat. This is series of talking pointss. Not policy proposals. Example:

Who are the recipients of such largesse? International organizations and foreign aid recipients, including millions for reconstruction in the Hamas-controlled GazaStrip. Labor union bosses participating in a new “green jobs” program. The National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Americorps, Title X Family Planning, and a host of spending programs that will do nothing to help our economy recover. And even community organizers, such as ACORN, performing “neighborhood stabilization.” Hundreds of programs deemed ineffective by prior Administrations are funded, despite promises from the President to go “line by line” to examine each program’s effectiveness.

The ACORN bashing and false smear that Democrats support Hamas is offense. Republicans sell tax cuts as universal health care. There is absolutely no numbers on how the Republicans will lower the budget or pay for programs.

Quotes of the Day

"House Republicans have pledged to stop to the “Pelosi Recession” caused by a bloated Democratic budget that spends too much, taxes too much and borrows too much. We are working each day toward real economic reform to help create new jobs instead of digging our country deeper in debt. Each Republican vote in Congress puts our nation on strong footing to rebuild the economy with sound and fair fiscal principles."

NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions, in a fundraising e-mail letter.

Thanks to the wonderful invention that is Google, we can have fun with Malkin's and Session's past statements on the Bush budget and economy.

We are now in the ninth month of this year’s federal budget, and things are looking up. The economy is growing, federal tax receipts are surging, and the budget deficit is shrinking. Considering what was predicted at the beginning of this budget year, these facts should be big news. After all, the “experts” had projected a deficit of more than $460 billion for the current budget. Instead, it looks like it will come in at $300 billion – maybe less.

Once again, budget experts were proven wrong by the dynamic and entrepreneurial American economy. I have nothing against the professionals at the Congressional Budget Office and their colleagues in other federal agencies; they’re honest and hard working, but they have a history of underestimating the productive capacity and agility of the private sector in the U.S.

"This should be shouted from the rooftops," Malkin wrote on her blog. "'Instead of shovel-ready spending, let’s focus on ax-ready waste!'"

I'm all for cutting waste. The problem is stimulus is needed to create jobs. Unsurprisingly, Malkin hardly touched the deficit during the Bush years. I know because I checked her blog. There is only five pages of Malkin blog posts containing the words "tax cuts." It is mostly Malkin defending GOP positions. She doesn't delve into wonkery.

Sessions and Malkin weren't worried about the deficit and economy during the Bush administration. Their sudden interest is because Barack Obama is in office. The anti-liberal Wall Street Journal reports only 3 million job were created during George W. Bush's tenure. The Congressional Budget Office study found the federal budget would have been balanced in 2005. What prevented this was the Bush tax cuts and increased spending. During that time, Sessions was saying everything was hunky dory. Malkin was blaming illegal immigrants for America's fiscal problems. There is no reason we should listen to these people.

Michele Bachmann Economics 101

In response to suggestions by China, Russia, and other countries around the world calling on the International Monetary Fund to explore a multi-national currency, U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann (MN-6) has introduced a resolution that would bar the dollar from being replaced by any foreign currency.

“Yesterday, during a Financial Services Committee hearing, I asked Secretary Geithner if he would denounce efforts to move towards a global currency and he answered unequivocally that he would," said Bachmann. "And President Obama gave the nation the same assurances. But just a day later, Secretary Geithner has left the option on the table. I want to know which it is. The American people deserve to know."

United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. Foreign gold or silver coins are not legal tender for debts.

Bachmann is further proof that Republicans need to take an economics class. Title 31, Sec. 5103 USC deals with what is offical U.S. currency. The reserve currency from the International Monetary Fund is made from currency from several countries. Bachmann could have used Wikipedia to find this out. What China is proposing a new international currency. Translation: China sees the dollar as weak and wants to knock off U.S. currency as the international standard bearer. China's economy has been projected by economists to eventually eclipse the United States.

Bachmann's tribalism fails to acknowledge faulty legislation or China's growing economic power. Bachmann's bill has no legal authority to over what currency the IMF can use. Bachmann clearly thought the Chinese yen was going to replace the U.S. dollar within American borders. Bachmann reacted and didn't think.

Update: Bachmann implies to Sec. of Treasury Timothy Geithner and Ben Bernanke the bailout to Bear Stern is unconstitutional. Geither and Bernanke point out Congress gave the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve were given the power by Congress. Bachmann argument boils down to Congress has no legislative power over Treasury and the Federal Reserve.

Both Geithner and Bernanke went on-record as not supporting the IMF changing from U.S. currency.

Note: the IMF uses other currency.

Update:Bachmann went on Glenn Beck's radio show and peddled the nonsense the dollar will be replaced by a "One World currency." She truly has no idea how the IMF reserve currency works.

BACHMANN: What that means is all of the countries in the world would have a single currency. We would give up the dollar as our currency and we would just go with a One World currency. … If we give up the dollar as our standard, and co-mingle the value of the dollar with the value of coinage in Zimbabwe, that dilutes our money supply. We lose control over our economy. And economic liberty is inextricably entwined with political liberty. Once you lose your economic freedom, you lose your political freedom. And then we are no more, as an exceptional nation, as we always have been. So this is imperative.

The Treasury Department released a chart explaining the U.S. International Reserve Position. The United States has $76,353 million in reserve assets in the IMF, gold and other assets. The chart details Euro and Yen assets. I can guarantee Bachmann and Beck never glanced at this chart.

Conservative blogger challenge: I want Jim Johnson of State of Sunshine to explain, defend or condem Bachmann's position. Conservative tell me I need take them more seriously. How can I take the Republican Party seriously when one of their members of the Financial Services Committee doesn't understand basic economics.

Alexander to Crist: Remove Rose Colored Glasses

``BUDGET CHAIRMAN'S WARNING. Please Remove All Standard Issue E.O.G. [Executive Office of the Governor] Rose Colored Glasses Prior to Entering Suite. Failure to do so May Cause Severe Economic Pain to the People of Florida.''

Alexander admitted he was mocking Crist. The Chairman said the only way to fix the budget was "a mix of cuts and new revenues." That translates into deeper budget cuts, tax and fee increases. Alexander urged Crist to use the "bully pulpit" to get the legislature to deal with reality. Sadly, I don't see that happening. Crist remains in a "Shiny Happy People" world.

Florida Sales Tax Exemptions

Florida is facing a budget shortfall, members of the House Finance & Tax Council were asked what sales taxes should be repealed. Tom Grady (R-Naples) came out against repealing any sales tax. Jim Waldman (D-Coconut Creek), Rich Workman (R-Melbourne) and John Tobia (R-Satellite Beach) mentioned bottled water as a possibility. No one went on-record supporting a bottled water tax. Ron Schultz (R-Homosassa) brought up "satellites which are up there." I think Schultz is confusing satellite television taxation with outer space satellites. Satellite tv is taxed in Florida. I have questions about if taxes on outer space satellites are legal under Florida law.

The Florida Department of Revenue estimates repealing the bottled water sales tax would raise an estimated $42.3 million. I would support repealing the tax. Especially since so many Florida communities go through water shortages. A bottled water tax alone isn't going to solve Florida's budget woes.

Alex Sink Letter to Bill McCollum

Attoney General Bill McCollum has come under criticism for a $1.4-million TV. McCollum hired Chris Mottola Consulting, through a no-bid contract, to create a cyber-predator prevention ad. Chris Mottola Consulting has worked on McCollum's 2006 campaign for Attorney General.

McCollum appears in the ad. Many have questioned McCollum putting a statewide commercial the year before elections. Senator Mel Martinez is tepping down. Governor Charlie Crist may run for Martinez's Senate seat. That leaves several possibilities open for McCollum's future.

The Florida Democratic Party has had a field day pointing out $550 for makeup.

"The fact that McCollum spent $550 of public money to get his make up done, in a vain attempt to make himself look good on TV, is especially telling as he desperately tries to defend his ads made by his long-time political consultant who was awarded the no-bid contract," said party spokesman Eric Jotkoff. "During this severe economic crisis, Florida's taxpayers are speechless at Bill McCollum's incredible lack of judgment, which is why Florida Democrats are determined to hold McCollum and his Republican Party accountable for their waste, fraud, and abuse of tax-payer's hard earned dollars."

Friedgator gives excellent background on the funding for the cyber ad. The Attorney General's office agreed to a settlement with AT&T Mobility. The latter was not properly informing customers on charges for third party offers for text messaging and ringtone services. The $2.5 million was originally supposed go to the Cyber Fraud Task Force. McCollum had the Florida legislature approve the money for cyber predator crimes. We know now where $1.4 million went.

Florida CFO Alex Sink sent a letter to McCollum. Sink raises concerns about proper documentation for payments to Chris Mottola Consulting. Sink informed McCollum she is "disappointed to learn" the no-bid contract will continue.

March 26, 2009

The Honorable Bill McCollum

Attorney General

State of Florida

The Capitol PL-01

Tallahassee, FL 32399-1015

Dear Attorney General McCollum:

Thank you for your letter informing me of your decision to extend your contract and expend additional state funds on your CyberSafety advertising.

As you know, the Department of Financial Services has authority to verify that the no-bid contract amendment between your office and Chris Mottola Consulting contains adequate requirements to process payment. Sufficient supporting documentation is still required by your office before payment could be made by the Department of Financial Services.

Given the circumstances, I was disappointed to learn that you intend to continue your no-bid contract to Chris Mottola Consulting, instead of going through a competitive bidding process. Also, it is important to note that these funds are public funds -- they belong to Florida’s taxpayers.

Like all Floridians, I was encouraged to see recognized cyber safety experts like John Walsh and others supporting the need to educate Floridians about the dangers of cyber crime. Given their support for fighting cyber crime, it might have been more appropriate if any one of these experts had been the face of your ad campaign to avoid a perception of self-promotion.

As you are well aware, I continue to be a strong supporter of combating cyber crime and internet predators in Florida.

Sink has taken exeption to McCollum's claim that she did not legally approve of McCollum's no-bid contract. Despite Sink's questions about the nature of the contract, she approved the latest ad buy. Deputy Chief Financial Officer Donna O’Neal sent out a press release to correct the record.

Dear Attorney General McCollum:

CFO Alex Sink has asked me to clarify the Department of Financial Services’ routine contract review process, given that your recent letter to her incorrectly stated that your request had been denied.Just today the Department of Financial Services’ Division of Accounting and Auditing was sent a contract amendment from your office.

As with your previous contract and amendments, the Division of Accounting and Auditing is in the process of reviewing your contract amendment. Once this routine review is completed, your office will receive the standard checklist stating whether the necessary requirements to support future payments were incorporated in the contract amendment.

Also, just as with your previous contract and amendments, at the time payment is officially requested for this contract amendment -- which has not yet occurred -- standard supporting documentation will be needed from your office to process payment. The Department of Financial Services has no authority to deny payment if this documentation meets the necessary criteria.

Please have your office contact the Division of Accounting and Auditing if there is need for any further clarification.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Eric Cantor Slave For 4 U

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor has to explain why he skipped Barack Obama's primetime press conference to attend a Britney Spears concert. My question is why would any grown man be caught dead at a Spears show?

One House GOP leadership aide said Cantor went at the request of a fundraiser. "If suffering through a Britney Spears concert will raise one more dime to help Republicans take back the House, then I'm glad Cantor's willing to do it."

Quote of the Day

"Make no mistake: Anything other than an immediate and compliant, 'Why no sir, I don't want the president to fail,' is treated as some sort of act of treason, civil disobedience or political obstructionism," Jindal said at a political fundraiser attended by 1,200 people. "This is political correctness run amok."

"My answer to the question is very simple: 'Do you want the president to fail?' It depends on what he is trying to do."

The Cracked article is worth checking out, if you share my sick sense of humor. If you are disturbed about Star Trek's Captain Jean-Luc Picard and LOTR's Elrond getting all sexual healing (which you should) then go no further.

The Plan for what, exactly?

To address the challenge of legacy assets, Treasury – in conjunction with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve – is announcing the Public-Private Investment Program as part of its efforts to repair balance sheets throughout our financial system and ensure that credit is available to the households and businesses, large and small, that will help drive us toward recovery.

The italics are mine. Let me translate this: Nobody in their right mind will invest in banks with their own money right now because the banks are broke. But the country needs banks to start lending again if we expect our economy to get better.

With that in mind, here's the jist of Geithner's plan: The Government begs private investors to front a minimal amount of capital to bid on toxic mortgage assets by saying, "Hey, we'll pay you $6 for every $1 you spend on mortgage debt." This takes bad debt off bank balance sheets, investors are then willing to place more money in banks again because they'll be able to start making loans again.

Theoretically. Unfortunately, this plan raises a lot more questions than it answers.

Wall Street loves it, as evidenced by stocks shooting up today. And why shouldn't they? The Obama administration just told them, "Hey guys, great news! We don't intend to break apart the huge mega banks that got us into this mess, and we're going to give you billions -- possibly a trillion -- in taxpayer dollars!" This people are all for preserving status quo since it makes them rich, and no matter how hard they fuck us they won't be reprimanded.

But the plan might not even work. Currently, it's slated to purchase $500 billion in toxic assets; possibly rising to $1 trillion. This is supposed to clear bad debt off banks' balance sheets, thus allowing investors to place money in banks again since they'll be solvent, thus allowing banks to make loans, etc. But as I've mentioned here before, just with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac we see, at most, $5.4 trillion in bad mortgage debt. So does the plan address this debt or just the debt from banks that the government didn't have to gobble up, like Citibank and Bank of America? If the plan doesn't address the Fannie/Freddie debt, what will? Additionally, discounting the Fannie/Freddie debt, just how much toxic mortgage debt are we looking at with Citibank and Bank of America?

The part of this plan that I really find galling, though, is that the government is willing to fork over hundreds of billions to Wall Street to get them to purchase mortgage debt. This is our money, and essentially our money is being used to pay off mortgages -- but by giving it to investors who can afford to put up a few million to pay for them. These investors can then turn around and ask home owners to pay up on mortgages that their tax dollars just bought.

If this is the case (and I could be reading the plan wrong, but...), what's with the middle man? If the government intends to pay for these mortgages, why not just forgive them? Why not just give banks 85% of what the mortgages are worth -- which they should very well be happy with -- and everyone goes on their merry way?

While some will rightly point out that people would get free houses under such a scenario, which they certainly don't deserve, under this plan the business school rejects who placed the economy in hot water are now being rewarded by having the government give money to banks to pay off these mortgages, and turning around to give these mortgages to the business school rejects with instructions to squeeze as much profit out of it as they can. In short, the business school rejects have the potential to reap huge profits off home owners since they paid $1 for every $6 the Obama administration would give them to buy their mortgage.

And you know, I don't think these assholes deserve the money.

The more I think about it, the more unsure I am of exactly what this plan is supposed to accomplish. Do Obama and Geithner (shamefully) intend to give Wall Street what's maybe the biggest bonus in history? But if so, how can this plan deliver such when it may not accurately address all the bad debt that exists? In the former scenario, normal Americans -- you and I -- bend over and take it; but in the latter the plan just doesn't work.

Here's an idea for a plan that could work: restructure the mortgages so their value reflects the median value of a home based on its value from 2005 to the present; adjust interest rates so they are lower; then spend enough money on job creation (like infrastructure repairs) which give people jobs, kickstarting the economy and giving everyone money to pay down their debt. But that plan doesn't give Wall Street a big fat check, now does it?

Makes me wonder what's really important to the Obama administration right now.

Charter 1 Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow Gainesville voters will decide whether or not to vote yes or no on Charter 1. This blog urges you to vote no. The text of the charter.

Amendment to City Charter Prohibiting the City from Providing Certain Civil Rights

Shall the City Charter Be Amended to prohibit the adoption or enforcement of ordinances, regulations, rules, or policies that provide protected status, preferences, or discrimination claims based on classification, characteristics, or orientations not recognized by the Florida Civil Rights Act? The act recognizes, race, color, creed, religion, gender, national origin, age, handicap, marital and familial status. Additionally, this amendment voids existing ordinances concerning sexual orientation, gender identity, and other ordinances inconsistent with this amendment.

The words "City Charter Prohibiting the City from Providing Certain Civil Rights" is a clue that this charter is merely to bash the lgbt community. Equality Florida has been lobbying Gainesville citizens to vote no.

Bachmann Overdrive

Michele Bachmann has a long history of outrageous rhetoric. Bachmann appeared on talk radio to voice her disapproval of TARP. Bachmann took a stand for her true consituents.

"We're running out of rich people in this country."

That would explain why AIG executives received bonuses.

Bachmann appeared recently on John Hinderaker's and Brian Ward's radio show to call for an armed revolt against President Barack Obama's cap-and-trade energy tax.

“I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us ‘having a revolution every now and then is a good thing,’ and the people – we the people – are going to have to fight back hard if we’re not going to lose our country. And I think this has the potential of changing the dynamic of freedom forever in the United States.”

If Bachmann was as unhinged as she appears, she would have gone postal or been institutionalized years ago. I find it more disheartening that she carelessly uses words to play to the conservative base. I don't believe Bachmann is anything resembling a moderate. However, if Bachmann really wanted an armed revolution, she would be making bombs and not working on Capital Hill.

Quote of the Day: Rush Limbaugh Super-Sized Edition

Limbaugh believes Bill Clinton made a law to fund abortions overseas. Population Action states:

The global gag rule does not prohibit foreign NGOs from providing EC as part of the family planning and reproductive health services they offer. Foreign NGOs may provide EC counseling, dispense EC to clients and promote awareness of this contraceptive method and still remain eligible for U.S. population assistance.

The Mexico City Policy (aka gag rule) does is not allow foreign clinics and hospitals to receive U.S funding, if the facilities inform women about contraception and abortion. Limbaugh clearly has no idea what he is talking about.

"If you look the executive orders (Obama) has promised to issue. He's gonna overturn the abortion law that guided who we fund overseas in terms of family planning and that's been a roller coaster. Clinton imposed it. Bush rescinded it. Obama is gonna reimpose it and so forth."

Clinton can not legal impose a law he is rescinding. The gag rule was imposed by Ronald Reagan in 1984. Alan Keyes helped created the gag rule policy. The Bush administration continued to censor what foreign health care facilities could tell their patients about contraception and abortion. Bill Clinton rescinded the gag rule on January 22, 1993.

The end of the video is Limbaugh telling Sean Hannity they have to fight against the "drive-by" media "reporting a totally bunch of wrong libel stuff about people." Limbaugh and Hannity spent their careers in talk radio and television. They have never reported a story in their lives. Getting Hoover's tenure over the Great Depression is historical fact. The Mexico City Policy doesn't prevent foreign countries from using U.S. dollars for funding abortions. (I doubt the Bush administration would be competent enough to monitor where the money was going.) Limbaugh can not have the truth of his side without speaking the truth.

I never hated Limbaugh. When I was a teenager, my father would listen to Limbaugh and his radio show and watch his defunct television show. I found the tv show because Limbaugh spent most of the show plugging his merchandise. I just found Limbaugh dull. Limbaugh was in the right place at the right time.

Interesting fact: Limbaugh and Hannity are both college dropouts. Maybe I should become a conservative talk show host.

The problem with Republicans attacking Democrats on tax cuts is President Barack Obama's Making Work Pay tax cuts. The cuts work like this.

Lowest 20% - 12.2 percent

Second Lowest 20% - 16.1 percent

Middle 20% - 20.2 percent

Fourth 20% - 26.4 percent

Next 15% - 22.5 percent

Next 4% - 2.5 percent

Top 1 - 0.0 percent

Honestly, I don't expect Obama's cuts to suddenly create jobs. People are making less and more likely to hold on to their money. The Bush administration's policy of tax cuts created 3 million jobs. The Clinton years created 23 million jobs.

Conservatives scream about welfare. Food stamps put $1.73 back into the economy for every federal dollar spent. I'm with Rubio on wasteful spending. I do wish Rubio would take the time to learn economics. The short answer is you have to spend money to make money. Rubio's ideas to fix the economy won't work. Rubio had his chance as House Speaker to help reduce Florida's deficit and he failed.

State of the GOP

Salon takes a state by state look at the Republican Party. Florida is marked as a purple state turning blue because of Barack Obama's victory. Salon reports the DNC will attempt to pick off some of Texas' congressional seats. Texas will likely pick up seats in the next Census.

The GOP faces an increase of Southern Hispanics that aren't anti-Castro and pro-immigration. The Southern strategy and race-baiting of the Nixon era won't work.

It's America Man

The first scene from the brilliant television show The Wire explains the stupidity of the government bailout out AIG. AIG in turn used the money to reward bonuses to the executives that helped sink the company.

Det. Jimmy McNulty questions a young black man about the murder of Snot Boogie.

McNulty: Every Friday night your boys would shot crap, right? And every Friday night you pal Snot Boogie, he'll wait until there was cash on the ground and then he would grab the money and run away?

Young black man shakes his head yes.

McNulty: You let him do that?

Black male: I mean we catch him and beat his ass but ain't nobody ever go past that.

McNulty: I got to ask you. If every time Snot Boogie would grab the money and run away why did you even let him in the game.

Black male: What?

McNulty: If Snot Boogie always stole the money why you let him play?

Black male: Got to. This America man.

AIG waited until the federal government gave out $170 million in bailout money. AIG rewarded executives with $165 million in bonuses. It's America man.

Sens. Ron Wyden (D) and Olympia Snowe (R) wrote an amendment to the TARP bill that would "clawback" any bonus money over $100,000. CEOs voiced their disapproval. Republicans backed the business community and Democrats backed out down under the pretense of "legal concerns." The clawback amendment was killed. It's America man.

"Oh, no. I don’t think I’ve ever really subscribed to that view, that you can turn it on and off like a water tap. Um, you know, I think that there’s a whole lot that goes into the makeup of an individual that, uh, you just can’t simply say, oh, like, “Tomorrow morning I’m gonna stop being gay.” It’s like saying, “Tomorrow morning I’m gonna stop being black."

Steele in GQ, saying homosexuality in genetic.

"I'm in the business of ticking people off. That's why I'm chairman."

Steele, under the false impression his job is to piss off people in his own party.

Update: more Steele madness.

"Consider it if the opportunity was there and it was right. God has a way of revealing stuff to you and making it real for you through others. And if that's part of the plan it will be the plan."

"I'm very introspective about things. I'm a cause-and-effect kind of guy. So if I do something, there's a reason for it... It may look like a mistake, a gaffe. There is a rationale, there is a logic behind it," he said. "I want to see what the landscape looks like. I want to see who yells the loudest. I want to know who says they're with me but really isn't."

Michael Steele, saying his feud and apology to Rush Limbaugh was planned.

"Was I partying? Absolutely! Absolutely! I was like 'Look at her. Hey, what's up!' I was doing the whole thing."

Mutuality is discerned from the arbitration clause in the Agreement, which is analyzed in light of Northport’s business. As a nursing home, Northport reaps virtually all the benefits of this distinctly one-sided agreement, because Northport is free to seek judicial relief for any claims that it is likely to have against residents, while residents are precluded from bringing any significant tort action that they are likely to have against Northport. Additionally, residents give up the right to any protections afforded by ombudsmen, and may even give up the right to have involuntary discharge hearings as provided by state and federal law. Northport gives up virtually nothing because it retains the right to sue for any foreseeable cause of action it may have against a resident. Residents, however, give up important substantive rights, including the right to sue Northport for significant injuries, the right for an heir to sue for wrongful death, and perhaps even the right to have an involuntary discharge hearing as provided by federal and state law. And Northport may modify the Agreement whenever it wishes simply by changing its handbook. Residents have no modification authority at all, and because Northport can unilaterally modify the terms, residents even give up the right to sign any amendments before the amendments take effect.

Steve Kornell Fundraiser

St. Petersburg city council candidate Steve Kornell will hold a fundraiser at the Kizmet Old School Cafe. $25.00 contributions are requested. However, people can attend the fundraiser for free. The event is for Kornell to meet voters face to face.

Host: Steve Kornell for St. Pete City Council Type: Causes - Fundraiser

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Today In Wingnuttery

Chuck Norris says he may run for President for Texas. Besides the Norris's candidacy for an imaginary office; Norris argues Texas may need to secede from the United States.

On Glenn Beck's radio show last week, I quipped, in response to our wayward federal government, "I may run for president of Texas." That need may be a reality sooner than we think. If not I, someone someday may again be running for president of the Lone Star State, if the state of the union continues to turn into the enemy of the state.

From the East Coast to the "Left Coast," America seems to be moving farther and farther from its Founders' vision and government.

...I'm not saying that other states won't muster the gumption to stand and secede, but Texas has the history to prove it. As most know, Texas was its own country before it joined the union as the 28th state. From 1836 to 1846, Texas was its own republic. Washington-on-the-Brazos served as our Philadelphia. Washington-on-the-Brazos is where, on March 2, 1836, a band of patriots forged the Texas Declaration of Independence.

SEC. 1. Ministers of the gospel being, by their profession, dedicated to God and the care of souls, ought not to be diverted from the great duties of their functions, therefore, no minister of the gospel or priest of any denomination whatever shall be eligible to the office of the Executive of the Republic, nor to a seat of either branch of the Congress of the same.

Opponents of President Bush used the 2000 election results and the court decisions to question the legitimacy of President Bush to serve as President. Opponents of President Obama are raising the birth certificate issue as a means of questioning his eligibility to serve as President. Neither of these situations are healthy for our Republic. This bill, by simply requiring such documentation for future candidates for President will remove this issue as a reason for questioning the legitimacy of a candidate elected as President.

Posey and his office are being disingenuous about their true reasons. Posey's spokesman, George Cecala said "If the president wanted to put an end to the whole thing, he could order Hawaii to release the authentic birth certificate. That’s up to him."

I remember conservative investigate reporters Matt Drudge, Rupert Mudoch and Newsmax telling the public they had DNA proof of Bill Clinton's black child. If any politician would have a love child it would be Clinton. These conservative muckrackers haven't produced the proof or child. I'm still waiting.